U.S. patent number 6,741,909 [Application Number 09/828,050] was granted by the patent office on 2004-05-25 for internet capable browser dispenser architecture.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Gilbarco Inc.. Invention is credited to Russel D. Leatherman, William C. Royal, Jr..
United States Patent |
6,741,909 |
Leatherman , et al. |
May 25, 2004 |
Internet capable browser dispenser architecture
Abstract
The invention relates to an interactive fuel dispenser system
having a plurality of fuel dispensers operating in conjunction with
a local server. Each dispenser generally has two fueling positions,
each with a graphical user interface through which a customer
interacts. In contrast with the recent trend in turning fuel
dispensers into super computers, applicants' provide a dispenser
architecture that need only be sufficient to establish
interactivity with a server to create multimedia applications and
carry out POS functions with a browser interface. Each fueling
position acts as a client of a local server at the fuel station
store. In the preferred embodiment, each fueling position client
also may access remote servers connected to the same network in
which the fueling position clients and the local server are
connected. Preferably, this network is or is connected to the
Worldwide Web of the Internet.
Inventors: |
Leatherman; Russel D.
(Summerfield, NC), Royal, Jr.; William C. (Greensboro,
NC) |
Assignee: |
Gilbarco Inc. (Greensboro,
NC)
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Family
ID: |
25407178 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/828,050 |
Filed: |
April 5, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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499979 |
Feb 8, 2000 |
6275746 |
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896988 |
Jul 18, 1997 |
6052629 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
700/234; 700/236;
700/239; 700/241; 700/244 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q
30/0601 (20130101); G06Q 40/00 (20130101); G07F
13/025 (20130101); G07G 1/14 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G07F
13/00 (20060101); G07F 13/02 (20060101); G07G
1/14 (20060101); G06F 017/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;700/234,241,236,244,239
;709/26 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Other References
Thompson, Bill, Spyglass Shifts the Focus, The Guardian Online Page
p9, Jan. 1997..
|
Primary Examiner: Walsh; Donald P.
Assistant Examiner: Butler; Michael E
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Withrow & Terranova PLLC
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/499,979, filed
Feb. 8, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,275,746 which is a divisional of
application Ser. No. 08/896,988, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,629, filed
Jul. 18, 1997.
Claims
We claim:
1. A fuel dispensing system in a fuel dispensing environment,
comprising: a local server located in a central location in the
fuel dispensing environment; a. fuel delivery hardware including a
fuel supply line, metering device, and an outlet hose with a nozzle
for delivering fuel to a vehicle; b. a display; c. an input device
coupled to a control system; and d. a network interface coupled to
said local server; said control system controls fuel delivery via
said fuel delivery hardware and runs a web browser on said display
to display a web page in the form of a markup language received via
said network interface from said local server in response to a
customer selection received via said input device, wherein said
control system in each of said plurality of fuel dispensers, while
running said browser, is further adapted to automatically request
markup language content via said network interface and use said
markup language content to control a function of the fuel
dispenser.
2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a remote server coupled
to said fuel dispenser wherein said web page is created by said
remote server using a markup language.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein said control system in each of
said plurality of fuel dispensers is comprised of a plurality of
control systems wherein on of said plurality of control systems
controls fuel delivery and wherein the other of one of said systems
runs said web browser.
4. The system of claim 1, said web page contains information
comprised from the group consisting of advertising and
merchandising.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein said control system in each of
said plurality of fuel dispensers is further adapted to display on
said display a web page received via said network interface
automatically in response to an occurrence of an event while
running said browser.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein said control system in each of
said plurality of fuel dispensers is further adapted to run said
web browser to provide markup language content to an audio
interface, video interface, or an audio/video interface coupled to
said control system received via said network interface.
7. The system of claim 6 wherein said control system in each of
said plurality of fuel dispensers, while running said browser, is
further adapted to provide said markup language content received
via said network interface to said audio interface, a video
interface, or an audio/video interface automatically in response to
an occurrence of an event.
8. The system of claim 6 wherein said control system in each of
said plurality of fuel dispensers, while running browser, is
further adapted to provide said markup language content received
via said network interface to said audio interface, a video
interface, or audio/video interface in response to a customer
selection received via said input device.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein said web page is created using a
markup language by said local server.
10. The system of claim 9 wherein said web page is automatically
displayed by said control system in response to an occurrence of an
event.
11. A method of displaying a web page at a fuel dispenser in a
fueling environment, comprising the steps of: controlling fuel
delivery at the fuel dispenser using a control system; running a
web browser on a display at the fuel dispenser acting as a thin
client; displaying a web page on said display received via a
network interface coupled to a centralized local server in the fuel
environment using a markup language in response to a customer
selection received via an input device coupled to said control
system; and requesting automatically markup language content via
said network interface and using said markup language content to
control a function of the fuel dispenser.
12. The method of claim 11 further comprising displaying a web page
on said display received via said network interface coupled to a
remote server using a markup language.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein said step if displaying is
performed automatically in response to an occurrence of an event
while running said browser.
14. The system of claim 11 wherein said displaying a web page
further comprises creating said web page using said local server
and using a markup language automatically in response to an
occurrence of an event.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to fuel dispensers and, more
particularly, to fuel dispensers and dispensing systems providing
interactive, multimedia functions to a customer. In recent years,
fuel dispensers have become more than a means for fueling a
vehicle. Service station owners are advertising at the dispenser
with everything from simple signs to video displays running
commercials. Some service stations have integrated fast-food or
quick-serve restaurants, and the dispensers have been converted
into complex point-of-sale (POS) systems for ordering food from
these restaurants. Additionally, the POS systems facilitate
ordering other services, such as car washes, at the gas station.
Most modern fuel dispensers include card readers or other payment
means allowing payment for not only fuel, but also any products or
services ordered at the dispenser.
As the amount of information and number of products and services
provided to the consumer increases, dispenser suppliers need
economical ways to provide information to the customer and market
the fuel company's primary products and services. As the amount of
information and number of products and services increase, the
number of ways to present such information to the customer
increases exponentially. Each oil company and station operator
wants to provide information and merchandise to their customers in
different ways. Until applicants' invention, these companies and
station operators were significantly limited in providing
information and marketing goods and services at the dispenser.
A typical fuel dispensing system includes a plurality of fuel
dispensers with two fueling positions per dispenser and a central
site controller. Sophisticated dispenser systems incorporate
expensive, hardware-intensive controllers in each dispenser. Many
fueling positions may include a display and touch pad (or screen)
to order goods or services. Until now, customer interactivity was
limited to choosing an option presented by the dispenser.
Unfortunately, changing the various options or presentations for
the customer involved changing firmware or downloading new software
to each dispenser. With any software application, revisions are
necessary and when revisions are made, every dispenser at every
desired location must be upgraded.
Although the information age is upon us, modern fuel dispensers
have been unable to take full advantage of the tremendous
merchandising opportunity presented when a customer is fueling a
vehicle. Likewise, customers cannot access useful information
during this period. Modern dispensers are unable to provide
national advertising and merchandising campaigns or offer
information a traveler may want or need during fueling. For
example, customers cannot purchase products or services outside the
realm of the local station store, such as concert or movie tickets.
Valuable information, such as news, weather, traffic updates or
customized road maps, is unavailable. Although modern dispensers
are highly sophisticated, the cost of providing customized local
and remote merchandising, as well as information dissemination, has
not been economical.
Prior dispenser technology provided little, if any, integration
between advertising and merchandising at the POS. Even in today's
most sophisticated systems, advertising is sent to the fuel
dispenser from a separate source and often displayed on a separate
display than the POS. See Gilbarco's U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,745 for
Fuel Dispenser Electronics Design, U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,849 for
Synchronization of Prerecorded Audio/Video Signals with Multimedia
Controllers, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/659,304, filed
Jun. 6, 1996. Each reference is incorporated herein by reference.
The POS simply functions to display order options to the customer,
and the customer responds accordingly. The current trend is to
increase the computational ability within each dispenser when
additional functionality is needed. Although current dispensers are
highly sophisticated, the cost to provide each fueling position on
each fuel dispenser with the computational horsepower to fully
realize multimedia applications outweighed the benefits, and
providing customized software for the thousands of stations
throughout the world would be very expensive.
Thus, there is a need to provide an economically viable dispenser
architecture capable of providing multimedia functions, such as
order entry, advertising, merchandising and information
dissemination. There is a need for a user-friendly graphical user
interface through which a customer can interact to access these
functions or services. Furthermore, there is a need, not only for
local merchandising and information dissemination, but for remote
merchandising and information dissemination from sources that are
not directly related to the main service station store to take full
advantage of the merchandising potential at the dispenser. There is
also a need for an interactive fuel dispenser capable of providing
a customer the opportunity to order foods, products and services
from the local station store in addition to purchasing products or
services, such as movie tickets, or downloading information such as
news, weather, traffic updates or road maps from local or remote
sites.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Applicants' fulfill this need by providing an interactive fuel
dispenser system having a plurality of fuel dispensers operating in
conjunction with a local server. Each dispenser generally has two
fueling positions, each with a graphical user interface through
which a customer interacts. In contrast with the recent trend in
turning fuel dispensers into super computers, applicants provide a
dispenser architecture that need only be sufficient to establish
interactivity with a server to create multimedia applications and
carry out POS functions with a browser interface. Each fueling
position acts as a client of a local server at the fuel station
store. In the preferred embodiment, each fueling position client
also may access remote servers connected to the same network in
which the fueling position clients and the local server are
connected. Preferably, this network is connected to the Worldwide
Web of the Internet.
Each client (fueling position) may include a graphical interface
and browser to perform interactive functions at the dispenser. The
hardware at the dispenser and fueling position is preferably
minimal and only sophisticated enough to establish interactivity
with the fueling customer in order to minimize cost. Computer
intensive services and functions may be provided at the local
server or one of the remote servers. Typically, the browser at each
fueling position simply requests services from one of the servers
on the network to provide any type of function or service desired
at the fueling position. Most notably, applicants' invention is not
limited to simple "mass media" marketing with no interaction taking
place between the customer and the advertising. The invention
actively encourages merchandising at the fueling position.
Interactive video/graphic advertising messages provide customers
the ability to immediately react to the advertising or
merchandising and purchase the products or services advertised,
whether local or remote. The dispensers may include card readers at
each fueling position to receive payment for the goods or services
at the same time payment is made for the fuel.
The invention provides a system for providing interactive
video/graphic presentations to a customer and offering the customer
selections for services and merchandise as desired. By minimizing
the hardware and software commitment at each dispenser and
providing services from local and remote servers, an interactive,
multimedia system, which is easily updated and economically
feasible, is made possible. Providing such remote services is
virtually impossible to reproduce within the confines of a service
station environment without applicants' invention.
In particular, the invention expands local advertising and its
minimalist form of merchandising into an opportunity for
sophisticated local and off-site advertising and merchandising
ranging from ordering fast food and car washes to purchasing movie
tickets or any other product or service desired. Remote products or
services may be sent directly to the customers home. Another unique
option provided by applicants' invention is an audio or audio/video
intercom between the fueling position and one of the local or
remote servers. The intercom provides an audible (and visual)
interface between a station operator or other individual. The
intercom is especially useful with order entry.
The invention is preferably implemented in a dispenser having a
processor, operating system and graphical user interface running a
hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) compliant browser. Each fueling
station at each dispenser allows a customer to browse the Worldwide
Web of the Internet to the extent desired by the station operator.
In short, the fueling position acts as a hypertext markup language
(HTML) compliant client with a graphical user interface and
browser.
HTTP is a known application protocol that provides users access to
files using the standard page description language known as HTML.
The HTTP provides tremendous flexibility in accessing files in and
including different formats, such as text, graphics, images, sound
and video. HTML provides basic document formatting and allows a
developer to specify "links" to and between any combination of
local and remote servers as well as files therein. Use of a HTML
compliant client browser involves specification of a link via a
uniform resource locator (URL). Once a link is specified, the
client makes a request to the identified server and receives a
document formatted according to HTML. These documents are often
referred to as "web pages". For more details on HTML and its
specific implementation, the HTML Reference Manual, published by
Sandia National Laboratories and available on the Internet at
http.//www.sandia.gov/sci_compute/html.ref.html, is incorporated
herein by reference.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a fuel station store having dispensers and a
local station server connected to the Internet according to the
present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic of the fuel dispensing system architecture of
the system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an elevation view, partially away of a fuel dispenser
according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings in general, and FIG. 1 in particular,
it will be understood that the illustrations are provided to
describe a preferred embodiment of the invention and are not
intended to limit the invention thereto. A fuel station environment
10 is shown having a plurality of fuel dispensers 12. Each
dispenser 12 typically has at least two fueling positions 14
capable of delivering fuel and providing a point-of-sale (POS)
interface. As seen in FIG. 3, a fuel dispenser housing 12 is
provided with conventional fuel supply line 128, metering device
130, outlet 134 and nozzle 136. The metering device 130
communicates data about the volume of fuel dispensed along line 132
to a transaction computer 140.
The dispensers include the normal fuel delivery hardware required
to deliver fuel to a customer in a controlled manner, such as
pumps, flow control valves, nozzles, hoses and control electronics.
A main service station store 16 is operably connected to each
dispenser 12 and fueling position 14 in addition to a local station
server and control system 18. The server and control system 18 are
operationally associated with POS systems and/or transaction
systems for a convenience store 20 and one or more quick service
restaurants 22, an associated car wash 24 or other service
provider. In the preferred embodiment, a customer at any of the
fueling positions 14 of any of the dispensers 12 may access the
local station server 18 or any number of remote servers 26, which
are located outside of the fuel station environment 10, via the
Internet or similar network 30. The dispenser may have a direct
Internet connection and/or a direct interactive connection to the
local server 18.
Turning now to FIG. 2, a fueling position 14 for each dispenser 12
is shown in greater detail. Each fueling position is associated
with a controller 32, operating system 34, browser 36, display 38
and input device 40, such as a keyboard, touch pad or touch screen.
The display 38 and input device 40 in conjunction with the
controller 32, provide a graphical user interface for each fueling
position 14. The operating system 34 is adapted to run any number
of software applications required to operate the dispenser,
graphical user interface and the network browser 36. In more
advanced embodiments, each fueling position 14 may include a
payment accepting device 42, such as a magnetic strip card reader,
smart card reader, or currency acceptor, in addition to a
microphone 44 and camera 46 to provide an audio or audio/video
intercom with a similarly equipped server or system. Other payment
systems may be substituted.
Each graphical user interface may include its own control system or
operate in conjunction with a single control system adapted to
operate both interfaces on a single dispenser 12. In a preferred
configuration of the invention, each fueling position 14 acts as a
thin client capable of interacting with a network of servers. The
controller 32 and associated user interfaces are preferably
designed to minimize the hardware commitment necessary at each
dispenser, while having sufficient capability to establish
interactivity with the user and provide fuel dispenser control.
Most computer intensive functions are provided as services from the
various local and remote servers 18, 26. Merchandising and business
rule interpretation are handled in the systems nomenclature as
services. Although certain functions and services may be run at the
dispenser, most functions dealing with customer transactions,
information dissemination and advertising or merchandising are
preferably performed as services performed remotely and accessed by
a client (fueling position). The browser software for each client
has the ability to request services either locally or remotely, via
the Internet or similar network. Certain services may be
automatically requested by the browser at each client, while others
await responses by a customer.
The local server and control system 18 will preferably include or
be associated with a central operator controller 50. The operator
controller 50 may act as the local server 18 or, in the
alternative, may operate in association with a separate local
server 18. The controller 50 is typically a central site controller
used to interface and control pump operation, certain dispenser and
store transactions as well as general control of the fuel station
store. The controller 50 may also facilitate station operator
interaction with the client through an operator display 52 and
operator input 54. The local server preferably controls
interactivity with the network 30 and/or the dispensers 12.
The audio or audio/video intercom system may include an operator
microphone 56 and camera 60. Thus, a station operator may interact
with a customer with a combination of text, graphics or audio/video
intercom. The controller 50 may include audio and video signal
processing capabilities for intercom functions. Furthermore, an
auxiliary media source 62 associated with the local server 18 may
provide video advertisements, interactive merchandising and
promotion, as well as interactive information dissemination. The
media source 62 may include media sources such as CDs, laser discs,
DVDs (digital video disc), streamed audio or video over the
Internet or any other suitable media source. Notably, all of the
activities may also be provided remotely through network 30.
The basic system architecture is a network connecting the
dispensers 12 and the local station server 18. Each fueling
position 14 is treated as a client capable of accessing services
provided by the local server 18. Interactivity between the fueling
positions 14 and the local station server 18 is accomplished in a
manner similar to the way interactivity is accomplished on the
Internet, and preferably, identical to the manner in which
interactivity is accomplished on the Internet. The system
preferably uses HTML and HTML compliant components, media players
and services. For local services, each client uses the respective
browser 36 to request services from the local station server 18.
The graphical user interface is configured to provide easy
operation and allow customers to intuitively select the various
options presented and receive information, products or services
accordingly. The requested services will control the dispenser and
its display content as desired and will react to further customer
actions to facilitate interactivity. For external services, the
client connects to remote services outside the local service
station 10 using the same browser interface.
When accessing remote servers on the Internet, the system
architecture uses the hypertext mark-up language (HTML). The
Internet is a known computer network based on the client-server
model. Basically, the Internet comprises a large network of servers
accessible by clients. Each of the clients operates a browser,
which is a known software tool used to access servers through
Internet access providers. A server operates a "web site" which
supports files in the form of documents and pages. A network path
to a server is identified by a uniform resource locator (URL)
having a known syntax for defining a network connection.
The Worldwide Web is that collection of servers of the Internet
that utilize the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). HTTP is a
known application protocol that provides users access to files,
which can be in different formats such as text, graphics, images,
sound and video, using a standard page description language known
as hypertext markup language (HTML). HTML provides basic document
formatting and allows the developer to specify links to other
servers and files therein. Use of an HTML compliant client browser
involves specification of a link via the URL. Upon such
specification, the client makes a request to the server identified
in the link and receives a web page, basically, a document
formatted according to HTML, in return. HTML provides exceptional
freedom in creating graphics/text/graphic images and associated
audio between servers and clients. HTTP and HTML allow complex
services to be accessed by clients having a minimum amount of
hardware sophistication. The primary computational horsepower is
reserved for the servers providing the requested services.
With the described embodiment, making interactive video/graphic
presentations to a customer and offering the customer selections
for services and merchandise is possible without extensive
computational power at each dispenser and fueling position. When
the network connecting the local server 18 with the dispensers 12
is connected to a larger network 30, such as the Internet, a
tremendous increase in the number of services and functions
provided to the customers is provided. The customer may interact
with services outside of the local environment as well as increase
the functionality of the local environment. Local services are
enhanced by making it easier to provide local advertising and
merchandising at each fueling position 14. These services are
easily customized by those familiar with HTTP and HTML.
Enhanced graphics and customer interaction need only be provided to
the local server 18, and customers at each fueling position 14 may
access the information through the browser 36. Downloading or
updating each fueling position is no longer required. The Internet
will provide world wide access to services, such as advertising and
merchandising, that would be too costly or impossible to reproduce
within the confines of traditional service stations. Local station
operators are no longer required to physically incorporate
advertising or merchandising within their systems. The local system
operator need only provide links to Internet services providing
merchandising, advertising or information as desired. Notably,
upgrades to the client's software are available online from a
remote server or the host.
Preferably, almost all local functions are provided as services by
either the local server 18 or one of the remote servers 26. Even
the local server 18 may be remote from the dispensers or fueling
environment. Local services may include such activities as
dispenser pumping and transaction control and order entry of fast
food and audio/video displays. Literally hundreds of sites may have
fueling operations and numerous other functions running on a remote
server. Major fuel companies may provide customized or generic
services for each fuel station through the Internet or by
periodically releasing information or services on a medium for use
with the auxiliary media source 62, such as a periodically released
CD or DVD. Additionally, local stations may customize their own
services and information dissemination capabilities using similar
techniques. For example, local stations may contract with a web
page designer to develop a web page which is automatically accessed
at the beginning of or during a fueling transaction. Additionally,
actual transaction programs may be run on remote servers
controlling hundreds of sites having compatible dispensers.
Although adapting the dispenser to be a thin client is preferred, a
more hardware and software intensive "fat client" may be used with
the system and benefit from connectivity to the various local and
remote services.
In operation, the graphical user interface can provide the customer
with a variety of advertising or information. To facilitate
merchandising, the customer is provided the opportunity to order or
receive more information about various products or services offered
to them by the local server or any number of remote servers. With
respect to local services, the customer may order various goods or
products in the station store or at one of the restaurants within
the station store. Similarly, services outside the station but
within the local fueling environment, such as car washes, may be
ordered. At any time throughout the fueling operation, advertising
may be presented to the customer that encourages the customer to
order the goods or services being advertised. Furthermore, local
information may be provided to the customer as desired. The
customer is provided multiple choices in which to select goods,
services or information as desired.
With regard to remote services, local customers may be given the
opportunity to order goods or services unavailable at the local
station store, such as movie tickets. This is particularly useful
for dispensers equipped with printers that can print the movie
ticket or other printed items. Furthermore, the customer may
download information, such as the weather, traffic conditions, news
reports or local maps. Having access to remote services also allows
the station owner to run remote advertising campaigns at each
fueling position. For example, the browser at each client may
automatically access one of these remote servers or preferably, the
client may be configured to automatically access the local server
18 which provides a link to the desired remote services. Accessing
the local server 18 and linking to remote services minimizes the
amount of customization required at each dispenser and fueling
position.
Certain modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled
in the art upon reading the foregoing description. It should be
understood that applicants' invention provides a fuel delivery
system architecture where each fueling position is viewed as a
client having a graphical user interface capable of accessing
services from a local station server, and preferably, remote
network servers as well. Although the system is not limited to the
Internet and HTML-compliant systems, the architecture depends on
minimizing the hardware commitment at each client while providing
high quality audio/video/graphic interfaces at these clients using
a server capable of carrying the primary computational load. It
should be understood that all modifications and improvements to the
disclosed system have been deleted herein for the sake of
conciseness and readability, but are properly within the scope of
the accompanying claims.
* * * * *